N.M. Brown and Helena

With 2020 being what I love to call, ‘the year of the toilet’, life took an unprecedented turn for most of us. Tensions also ran higher than ever due to social and political issues, while all of us were quarantined to the safety of our homes with not much else to do than stew on it. That, and bicker with strangers and acquaintances on the internet. 

The latter of these two is what caused the first sparks of creative genius that led to this anthology’s birth. As more and more groups lost focus and descended into utter chaos, we decided to do something not many others were doing at the moment and band together to create something positive. Everyone involved was very pleasant to work with and the project as a whole went smoothly and without a hitch. Considering the hell the rest of the World was stuck in, I see the collaborative process we’ve achieved in and of itself as a success. 

I was one of the newest of the group and was beyond thrilled that I was offered the opportunity to work with such acclaimed and seasoned authors for the chance to have my work appear beside theirs. Each of us worked together like the intricate pieces of a haunted clock, providing small pieces of our skill, darkness and genius to come up with an amazing final product, The Gates of Chaos Anthology. This would also be my first time being included in a fully illustrated collection as well. I loved seeing Will bring each of our tales to life with his amazing artwork. 

My first story, titled ‘Helena’, was something I wrote to test my own limits as an author. I hadn’t ever created a human/doll crossover before and I have to say it was a lot of fun to write. I wanted to shine light on the innocent mistakes we can all make as parents and the consequences they could have. 

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N.M. Brown is an international best-selling author from Florida. She's a happily married mother who sheds light on the dark corners of the mind that we like to keep hidden. She's dabbled in fantasy and science fiction, but the horror genre is where her heart has a happy home. Her other publications include stories the recent award winning series Calls From the Brighter Futures Suicide Hotline, the Scary Snippets Collections, along with several others. Her passions include soap making, publishing and spending time with her horror loving friends and family. You can find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NMBrownStories/ and on Reddit at https://www.reddit.com/user/BunnyB03

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